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Assembly

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Nicholas Murray edited this page Feb 7, 2024 · 3 revisions

Bill of Materials

A lot of items are typically purchased in small packs or kits, leaving you with quite a few extras, though this makes making additional devices quite economical.

Component Quantity Example Link Notes
PCB 1 Gerber zip See Getting a PCB below.
Waveshare RP2040-Zero 1 Waveshare Without headers. Clone boards do work, but it's better to support Waveshare and get the genuine product.
Female VGA Connector 1 Aliexpress
Button 1 Aliexpress 6x6x6mm
Resistors 9 Aliexpress 100Ω, 390Ω, 2x 470Ω, 3x 1kΩ, 2x 2.2kΩ

The device can optionally be mounted in an enclosure, with the required materials listed below:

Component Quantity Example Link Notes
Enclosure 1 Aliexpress 56x58x28mm. PCB mounting holes were designed specifically to fit this box
M2.5 screws 4 Aliexpress M2.5 screws self-tap threads into the soft plastic of the above box
Standoffs/Spacers 4 I used M3 nuts to lift the PCB up inside the enclosure, but you could use anything similar, like nylon washers, etc

Getting a PCB

You can get a PCB printed easily using any PCB manufacturer who can accept Gerber files. The latest Gerber zip file for this device can be found here. Simply upload the zip file when prompted on the site, and no other settings should need to be changed (you can pick your solder mask colour though). Most sites will make you order a minimum of 5 boards, but they're cheap enough to not be an issue, and it's handy to have a few extras.

I personally prefer PCBWay, but any site should be fine. If you wish, you can use my PCBWay referral code (completely optional) for $5 of credit, and I will in return get credit as well.

Soldering

WIP

My suggested component soldering order:

  1. Solder the RP2040-Zero on the pads around the cutout on the bottom
    a. Start by applying solder to a pad
    b. Hold your soldering iron to the same pad to keep the solder melted, and position the RP2040-Zero in place, then pull back the iron
    c. Solder the rest of the pads
  2. Solder the resistors
    a. Install all of the resistors in their corresponding positions on the top of the board
    b. Flip the board over so that the resistors are all held in place by the weight of the board
    c. Solder all legs and trim the excess
  3. Solder in the VGA connector (big fork pins first) and the button

Installing into an Enclosure

WIP

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